Deadline: 05-Nov-2024
The British Science Association has launched the British Science Week Kick Start and Community Grants Program.
These grants, supported by UK Research and Innovation, cater for audiences who, for all sorts of reasons, do not often get the chance for hands-on engagement with science. The funding allows people to participate and enjoy this annual celebration of all things science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).
Grants Information
- Kick Start Grants
- With the support of UK Research and Innovation, they provide Kick Start Grants to help schools in challenging circumstances organise their own activities and events during British Science Week. Usually opened in autumn, the grant scheme aims to engage children who might not otherwise choose to participate in science, and to promote cross-curricular learning. All kinds of events and activities are eligible for support!
- Community Grants
- The Community Grants scheme aims to expand and diversify the audiences who engage with science and grow interest in science by empowering and supporting community groups to run their own science activities during British Science Week.
Priorities
- Kick Start Grants
- Events that align with the priorities are most likely to be funded. These include activities that:
- Involve children supported by Pupil Premium, from ethnic minority backgrounds, with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) or from any other groups of young people more likely to be underrepresented in STEM.
- Support girls to develop their STEM skills, understanding and passions.
- Engage children who wouldn’t normally choose to participate in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) activities.
- Are embedded in your local community and involve the wider community as a core audience.
- Challenge stereotypes about science, and link it to the children’s everyday life beyond school.
- Support children and young people to take initiative and actively lead activities.
- Are cross-curricular and include teachers, professionals or organisations from outside STEM.
- Raise awareness of the diverse range of careers that studying STEM subjects can lead to.
- Have an impact on STEM activities throughout the year, e.g., staff CPD or launching a new STEM initiative in your school.
- Events that align with the priorities are most likely to be funded. These include activities that:
- Community Grants
- They prioritise events that strongly fit with the British Science Association’s vision of a world where science is at the heart of culture and society. These include events that:
- are embedded in your local community, where community members are involved in some aspect of the planning or delivery of the event
- showcase the role science plays in everyday life, challenge the idea that science is separate from culture, and/or break down stereotypes of what it means to be a scientist or engage with science
- leave a legacy, providing a way for those involved to continue their engagement with science.
- They prioritise events that strongly fit with the British Science Association’s vision of a world where science is at the heart of culture and society. These include events that:
What can you get?
- Kick Start Grant
- There is now one grant of £400 for your school to run science activities during British Science Week.
- Community Grants
- There are two levels of grants that community groups can apply for:
- £500 grants to run one or more events during British Science Week
- £1000 grants to run one or more events during British Science Week, as well as either preparatory or follow-up activities that will lead to continued engagement beyond British Science Week
- There are two levels of grants that community groups can apply for:
Eligibility Criteria
- Kick Start Grants
- If your school meets all of the following eligibility criteria, they encourage you to apply:
- The organisation is a school, college, or Ofsted-registered Early Years nursery or preschool.
- The school is in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
- The school is a state-funded school. Independent Special Schools that receive local authority funding for pupil places are also eligible.
- The school is not academically selective.
- The young people taking part in the activity/event are aged between 3 and 19.
- The school meets at least one of the following additional eligibility criteria:
- A minimum of 30% of pupils are eligible for Pupil Premium, Free School Meals, or equivalent
- A minimum of 30% of pupils are from ethnic minority backgrounds
- The school is based in a remote and rural location
- If your school meets all of the following eligibility criteria, they encourage you to apply:
- Community Grants
- Your event/activities happen within British Science Week – 7 – 16 March 2025.
- To be eligible for a grant, you must represent a community-based group or organisation that works directly with audiences who are traditionally underrepresented and currently not engaged in science activity. The definition of groups that are underrepresented in science include:
- people from ethnic minority backgrounds
- people living in communities which face deprivation, including people disadvantaged in terms of education and income
- people with a disability or long-term health conditionpeople living in a remote and rural location, defined as settlements of less than 10,000 people
- girls and women.
- For community groups that work with girls and women, they prioritise those who work with at least one other underrepresented group.
- They welcome applications from schools for special educational needs and additional support needs, from hospital and supplementary schools, as well as English as a Second Language groups. However, community grants cannot be used for primary or secondary school events or activities.
For more information, visit British Science Association.